FIT & AHEAD have teamed up to enhance employment access and promote workplace inclusivity through Tech Apprenticeships for individuals with disabilities. Discover how to be disability inclusive in your organization with the following tip sheet “Top Tips on Being an Inclusive Employer”.
Irish employers believe that hiring people with a disability is both a benefit to the organisation and that it can help their businesses to innovate.
Tip Number 3: Providing a Platform for Success
Every employer wants their employees to perform to their best. So, it’s important to provide them with the tolls and supports they need to succeed. For people with disabilities, this means listening to their needs and responding, often by making small changes that make all the difference in their work.
Offer Clear Information about Supports:
Consider having a dedicated company webpage or space on your staff portal outlining your commitment to ensuring your workplace is disability friendly. Communicate your organisations openness to providing a range of individualised supports. Provide information on how to access them and a named contact to discuss needs in confidence.
Respond to Individual Needs:
Once an employee has informed you that they have a disability, it’s important to engage in open dialog with them to discover what, if any support needs they may have. This process is known as a Needs Assessment. It’s a structured conversation which explores the impact of the disability, in relation to the workplace environment and the demands of the role. Through this dialog, appropriate supports are explored and agreed with the employee and the outcomes are documented and signed off by both employer and employee. The process should include information on who is responsible for implementing the agreed support (e.g., HR dept, line manager etc.) and information should only be shared on a need-to-know basis with employee consent.
Develop Inclusive Policies, Procedures and Strategies:
It’s important to have clear policies and procedures around the provision of reasonable accommodations (the legal term for disability supports) and the needs assessment outlined above. It’s also useful to consider where accessibility and inclusion can be embedded in other company policies, for example those concerning procurement, communications, and recruitment. Many larger companies are now also taking the step of developing specific Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategies.
Be Aware of Resources and Financial Supports Available:
There are a range of organisations, like AHEAD, which provide a variety of resources and supports to help you on your journey to becoming a more inclusive employer. Additionally, a range of state grants and supports are available to help cover the cost of supporting somebody with a disability in recruitment and employment, providing awareness training to staff, and adapting your workplace.
Consider Introducing a Mentoring Programme:
A terrific way to support new employees to settle in your organisation, navigate how the culture operates, and develop networks within the organisation, is to operate a mentoring system for new staff. It’s simple. Pair new staff members up with another volunteer employee outside their direct team, whose role it is to meet them occasionally, introduce them to how things work, and act as a confidential sounding-board for any early issues arising. This is a great approach for all new staff, but particularly helpful for people with disabilities who may find it more challenging to adapt quickly to new environments.
By following these steps, employers can enhance inclusivity and remove barriers in their recruitment process, promoting equal opportunities for all candidates.
Fastrack into Information Technology (FIT) is a representative organisation of the technology sector committed to growing Ireland’s tech talent pipeline. Working in close collaboration with national education and training provision, national and regional development agencies and community organisations, FIT’s mission is to promote an inclusive Smart & Sustainable Economy by creating routes to marketable technical skills for job seekers and career changers wishing to pursue quality professions in Ireland’s thriving digital economy.
AHEAD is an independent non-profit organisation working to create inclusive environments in education and employment for people with disabilities. The focus of their work is further education and training, higher education, and graduate employment.
Purpose of Collaboration:
The main objective is to increase access & inclusion for apprentices with a disability by increasing employer knowledge & awareness around all aspects of best practice.
To increase the number of individuals with a disability to apply for apprenticeships in Ireland, specifically the tech apprenticeships with FIT.
If you are an employer and are interested in discovering guidelines and best practices to strive towards a more inclusive workplace, more information is linked here
